JPH11146741A - Egg cleaning equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide an egg washing device that smoothes the flow of a washing liquid (hot water) below the egg and improves the washing function. SOLUTION: A bar conveyor 12 for transporting the eggs 1 along a transport route, nozzles 16 and 17 for supplying hot water from a downstream side to an upstream side of the transport route, and guiding the hot water along the transport route. In an egg washing apparatus having a gutter 19 and a concave portion 19a corresponding to the outer shape of the egg 1 formed in the gutter 19, the groove M
1, M2 are formed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a conveying means for conveying eggs along a conveying path, a washing means for supplying a washing liquid from a downstream side to an upstream side of the conveying path,
And a liquid guiding means for guiding the cleaning liquid along the transport path, wherein the liquid guiding means has a concave portion corresponding to the outer shape of the egg.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Such prior art will be described with reference to FIGS. The cleaning device 100 is a bar conveyor 12 including a bar 2 for transporting the eggs 1 and a chain 3 connecting a plurality of the bars 2. The egg 1 is transported in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 8 along the transport path. Above the transport path, there are provided a nozzle 4 for jetting hot water and a plurality of brushes 5 for cleaning the surface of the egg 1. Brush 5 rotates egg 1
Removes dust and dirt by contacting the outer surface of the High-speed air is blown by a blower 13 provided in the vicinity of the nozzle 4 to drain the water after washing the eggshell surface. A gutter 6 functioning as a means for guiding washing water is provided immediately below the eggs 1 in the transport path. The gutter 6 is set so that the downstream side of the transport path is higher than the upstream side. Thus, the hot water jetted from the nozzle 4 flows to the upstream side. In the vicinity of the nozzle 4, the hot water is not dirty, but the hot water flowing to the upstream side is slightly dirty since it has already been used for washing the eggs 1. That is, the egg 1 is washed immediately after being transferred to the washing device 100, and is firstly washed with warm water in a slightly dirty state, but as the egg 1 is transported to the downstream side, fresh hot water is used. It is washed by. The hot water used for cleaning falls down to guide 7
Are stored in the container 8 and discarded. The eggs 1 are transported from a poultry house (not shown) to the egg feeding unit 9 where the eggs are fed to the conveyor 10.
Is transferred to the bar conveyor 12 of the cleaning device 100 via the transfer plate 11. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the gutter 6 in a direction orthogonal to the transport path. The eggs 1 are transported in six rows, and FIG. 9 shows four of them.
The gutter 6 includes a mounting portion on which the eggs 1 are mounted, and a heat insulating portion corresponding to the back side of the mounting portion (not shown). The mounting portion has a concave portion 6 a for receiving the egg 1. The heat insulating portion is formed of a heat insulating material so that the temperature of hot water (about 50 ° C.) does not decrease.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a concave portion 6a. Recess 6
The shape of “a” is constituted by a single arc 6 b, and the curvature of the arc 6 b is larger than the curvature of the curve constituting the side outer shape 1 b of the egg 1. Therefore space S on both sides of egg 1
1, S2 are formed. The spaces S1 and S2 are used for flowing the cleaning water used for cleaning along the transport path.

[0004]

The problems of the above prior art are as described below. After the washing hot water spouted from the nozzle 4 cleans the surface of the egg 1, the used hot water is dirty and must be smoothly sent upstream to drain. Thus, the entire cleaning device is kept clean. In particular, food poisoning has recently been highlighted in various foodstuffs, and it is important to keep the cleaning process clean. However, in the structure of FIG. 10 of the prior art,
The hot water was sufficiently supplied to the upper side of the egg 1, but the flow of the hot water was poor at the lower side, and it could not be said that the dirty hot water could be drained smoothly. In particular, the flow of warm water was poor at or near the bottom of the recess 6a of the gutter 6. Such a problem was more remarkable when the processing capacity of the eggs 1 was increased (for example, the number of eggs per hour was increased from 25,000 to 30,000).

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an egg washing apparatus for smoothing the flow of a washing liquid (hot water) below the eggs and improving the washing function. That is.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an egg cleaning apparatus for transporting eggs along a transport path, and for supplying a cleaning liquid to the transport path. Washing means, and a liquid guiding means for guiding the cleaning liquid along the transport path, wherein the liquid guiding means is provided with a concave portion corresponding to the outer shape of the egg, the egg cleaning device, A groove is formed at the lowermost portion or near the lowermost portion.

According to this configuration, the cleaning liquid can be smoothly supplied from the downstream side to the upstream side by using the groove formed at the lowermost portion or near the lowermost portion of the concave portion.
Therefore, the dirty cleaning liquid can be drained smoothly, and the cleaning function can be improved.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the groove is formed by combining a plurality of lines having a larger curvature than a curve constituting the outer shape of the egg. For example, combining two such lines creates a substantially triangular recess, with the top of the triangle functioning as a groove. When three are combined, a substantially trapezoidal concave portion is formed, and the intersection (two places) of the sides functions as a groove. Of course, it is possible to combine more lines. Thus, a groove can be formed with a simple configuration. It is preferable to select a straight line instead of a curved line as the line having a large curvature, since the manufacture of the liquid guiding means becomes easy.

[0009] It is preferable that the intersections of the lines be connected by a curve having a curvature smaller than the curvature of the line. This is because the solids contained in the cleaning liquid are easy to deposit at the intersection of the lines and it takes time to clean, but by connecting such parts with a curve, the solids are less likely to deposit. This has the effect that cleaning can be easily performed.

[0010] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [Explanation of Configuration of Embodiment] FIG.
The configuration of the egg washing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to 2, 3, and 4. 1 is a side view, FIG. 2 is a plan view seen from above, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a bar conveyor, and FIG. 4 shows a sectional shape of a gutter. The egg washing apparatus includes a plurality of rollers 2 for transporting the eggs 1 at a predetermined pitch and a conveyor chain 3 connecting a large number of the rollers 1 at a predetermined pitch.
A brush conveyor plate 15 for mounting and supporting these rotating brushes 14 (rotating in the direction of arrow B); A downstream nozzle 16 and an upstream nozzle 17 disposed between the brushes 14 and attached to the brush support plate 15, a draining blower 18 disposed downstream of the rotating brush 14, and immediately below the transport path of the egg 1. And a gutter 19 having a configuration unique to the present application. FIG.
As can be seen from the figure, the transport path is set higher on the downstream side than on the upstream side. FIG. 3 shows the details of the bar conveyor 12, wherein the eggs 1 are located in the space between the bars 2. The rotating brush 14 is configured so that the position in the vertical direction (arrow C) can be adjusted according to the degree of wear of the brush. A pair of conveyor chains 3 of the bar conveyor 12 are provided on both left and right sides of the transport path, are wound around sprockets 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d, and are rotationally driven by a motor (not shown). The gutter 19 is provided on almost the entire surface of the transport path, and a slope 21 is provided immediately below the drain blower 18 on the downstream side of the transport path. Below the bar conveyor 12, the first tray 2
2 and a second tray 23 are provided to drain hot water used for washing. Here, the cleaning method used in the present embodiment is called a one-way method, and refers to a method in which water or hot water as a cleaning liquid is used and then drained without reuse. The other is called a circulation type,
Water or hot water is circulated in a tank or the like to replenish the amount of water consumed, and dirt is treated with a strainer, filter, or the like. In this embodiment, a circulation type can also be used. The temperature and supply amount of the hot water are set and managed by a hot water supply boiler (not shown).

[Description of Configuration of Gutter] The configuration of the gutter 19 will be described in detail. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the gutter 19 taken along a plane orthogonal to the transport path. The eggs 1 are transported in six rows, and the recesses 19a in which the eggs 1 are placed as shown in FIG. 4 are also formed in six rows. As shown in FIG. 2, six drain holes 19 </ b> A are formed at the upstream end of the gutter 19 to discharge used hot water. The concave portion 19a has three straight lines 19
b, 19c, and 19d.
The intersection 19e of 9c is connected by R with a small radius. The intersection 19f of the straight lines 19c and 19d is also connected by R. This prevents the solids from adhering at the intersections.
Two grooves M1 and M2 are formed below the concave portion 19a.

[Description of Operation of Egg Washing Apparatus] Next, the operation of the washing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be briefly described. The egg 1 carried in the direction of the arrow A is mounted on the bar conveyor 12 and transported along the transport path. Rotating brush 1
The eggs 1 are washed with warm water (around 50 ° C.) jetted from the nozzles 16 and 17 provided between the eggs 4. Nozzle 1
The warm water supplied from 6, 17 accumulates in the concave portion 19a of the gutter 19, moisturizes the surface of the egg 1, and the rotating brush 14 acts thereon, whereby the surface (upper side) of the egg 1 is washed. Also, since the transport path is inclined, the warm water accumulated in the concave portion 19a not only flows to the upstream side through the upper side of the egg 1, but also
Due to the grooves M1 and M2 of the concave portion 19a, it flows to the upstream side even if it passes below. Thereby, the contaminated warm water smoothly flows to the upstream side, and is drained through the drain hole 19a and the trays 22, 23. The warm water flowing through the grooves M1, M2 also performs a preliminary washing of the lower part of the egg 1. Further, since the intersections 19e and 19f of the concave portion 19a of the gutter 19 are connected by R, the solid content contained in the contaminated warm water hardly adheres, and even if it adheres, the cleaning is easy. Rotating brush 1
When the washing with 4 is completed, air is blown to the surface of the egg 1 by the drain blower 18. The water adhering to the egg 1 is blown off, falls on the tray 22 through the slat section 21, and is drained. The eggs 1 that have passed through the washing device 100 are subsequently sent to a drying unit (not shown) and subjected to a drying process.

[Definition of Terms] The bar conveyor 12 functions as a conveying means for conveying eggs along a conveying route. The nozzles 16 and 17 function as cleaning means for supplying a cleaning liquid from the downstream side to the upstream side of the transport path. The gutter 19 functions as liquid guide means for guiding the cleaning liquid along the transport path.

[Modification] Next, a modification of the shape of the concave portion 19a of the gutter 19 will be described. FIG. 5 shows a configuration in which two straight lines 19g and 19h are formed, and a groove M3 is formed at the lowermost portion. The intersection 19i of the straight lines 19g and 19h is connected by R. The straight lines 19g and 19h may be curves (arcs) having a large curvature. FIG. 6 shows a groove M at the bottom of a single arc 19j.
FIG. 7 shows an example in which two grooves M5 and M6 are formed near the lowermost part of a single arc 19j.

The cleaning liquid may not be hot water (hot water), but may be normal-temperature water. The reason for using the hot water is that hot water is more likely to remove dirt than normal-temperature water, and then it is used in the next step. In the drying step, it is advantageous to keep the surface temperature of the eggs at a somewhat high level, and to prevent invasion of various bacteria from the eggshell. Ozone water having a sterilizing effect may be used as the cleaning liquid.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an egg washing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the egg washing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a bar conveyor.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the shape of a gutter.

FIG. 5 shows a first modification of a gutter.

FIG. 6 shows a second modification of the gutter.

FIG. 7 is a third modification of the gutter.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a cleaning apparatus according to the related art.

FIG. 9 is a view showing the shape of a gutter according to the related art.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing details of a gutter according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 egg 2 bar 3 chain 12 bar conveyor 16 downstream nozzle 17 upstream nozzle 19 gutter 19a recess 100 washing device M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6 groove

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A transporting means for transporting eggs along a transporting path, a cleaning means for supplying a cleaning liquid from a downstream side to an upstream side of the transporting path, and the washing along the transporting path A liquid guide means for guiding a liquid for use, wherein the liquid guide means is provided with a concave portion corresponding to the outer shape of the egg, wherein the groove is formed at the lowermost portion or near the lowermost portion of the concave portion. An egg washing device, characterized in that: 2. The egg washing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the groove is formed by combining a plurality of lines having a larger curvature than a curve constituting the outer shape of the egg. 3. The egg washing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the line having a large curvature is a straight line. 4. The egg washing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the intersections of the lines are connected by a curve having a curvature smaller than the curvature of the line.